Glacier National Park Read Online Free PDF

hikers caught up to the first group. Slowly, the large gathering of people proceeded. A person in the front yelled out, “Hey, bear!”
    At the top of a small hill, the group stopped. The bear was down below, a short distance off the trail. A distinct hump on its back curved up between its shoulders.
    The bear heard human voices. It glanced toward the boat and at the group of people on the trail, then returned to foraging for food, seemingly unaffected by their presence.
    The hikers quickly scooted past the grizzly.
    The ranger watched until the group appeared to have safely gone by. He stepped back inside. “That was a close call. But the hikers did the right thing. They stayed together and made sure the bear knew they were there.”

    The boat crossed the rest of Lake Josephine, docking to let the passengers on the Grinnell Glacier guided hike disembark. They walked across the dock and gathered together on the shore.
    “Good morning, bears!” The ranger called out into the forest loudly, startling some in the group. Then he turned to everyone. “I’m ranger Rick,” he introduced himself. “By the way, does anyone know how to tell the difference between black bear scat and a grizzly’s?”
    No one answered.
    The ranger smiled. “Grizzly scat has bear bells in it!”
    Everyone laughed nervously.

    Rick explained. “There’s no better way of alerting bears than our voice. Bells could make a bear curious. They might sound like a pika or marmot—bear food. We certainly wouldn’t want that!”
    One person with a walking stick removed the bells from his pole.
    “I’ll tell you about a bear encounter I dealt with along this trail in a little while. But first, I want to mention that there’s safety in numbers, and we’re a large group. Though we need to be careful, keep in mind that you’re going on one of the prettiest hikes in the park, and to a very interesting place too.”
    Rick started walking down a path. He cupped his hands and announced in a deep voice, “Yo, bears. We’re here!” Then he turned to the group. “Come on! We’ve got a lot of trail ahead of us.”
    Farther along, Rick waited for the forty or so people to gather.
    “Okay. Let me point out a few things. The large mountain in back there is Mt. Gould. In front of it is Angels Wing. What’s left of Grinnell Glacier is between those two peaks. And down below is one of the real jewels of this park, Grinnell Lake. We’ll continue to see it and its great display of turquoisity along the way.”
    A little while later Rick stopped the group near a series of red rocks. He removed his cap and wiped some sweat off his face. “It’s an awfully warm day,” he said. “But that’s been the trend these last few summers. Years ago it hardly ever got this way so high up in Glacier. And the winters have warmed up significantly too.”
    He turned around and pointed. “Even Gem Glacier, near the top of the mountain, has bare ice on it now. This has only happened in the last couple of years. Usually the ice is covered from last winter’s snows.”
    Rick looked straight down at Grinnell Lake. “One day that jewel of water will lose its turquoise color. And unfortunately, that day isn’t too far off. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Now I want to tell you my bear story.
    “A few years ago, on this very trail, a young woman and her father took off to Grinnell Glacier early in the morning. They were the first ones on the path that day. Just ahead of this spot they climbed around a bend and a grizzly and cub were right on the trail.
    “One of the most dangerous things you can do is to surprise a sow and her cub. The grizzly charged and attacked. Both the daughter and father tumbled off a cliff. This seriously injured them, in addition to their wounds from the attack, but it also might have saved them.”
    Rick paused to catch his breath. “I was the ranger on duty that day. And let me tell you, it was one long day. A hiker came running down to tell